At The End of the Tunnel
by thatcoolguy17
Summary: Being put on Death Row, Natsu Dragneel has to count on his lawyers help, Levy McGarden, to set him free from what seems to be some sort of conspiracy. While waiting, he then meets another inmate, Erza Scarlet, on Death Row, who is also wrongfully accused of something she did not commit. Their lawyers are the only ones that can save them before their time is up. Nerza and Gajeevy.
1. Chapter 1: Accused

"May the defendant please rise." The judge finally broke the silence in the court room, waiting for the final appeal in the case.

Natsu Dragneel stood up, facing charges of what seemed to be vehicular manslaughter of 5 innocent bystanders. "This is it." Levy McGarden, his lawyer said.

"Natsu Dragneel," the judge took out what seemed to be envelope. Inside of it has the jury's decision on the case. "You are hereby sentenced with the Death Penalty."

"What?" Natsu angrily whispered.

"You can either die by lethal injection or death by electric chair, your choice. You have three months," the judge's last words were official. "Your time will be spent at Magnolia Prison." The judge swung his hammer one last time.

Everybody in the court room left, with the exception of Natsu, Levy and a few guards. "This whole case was controversial." He said to his lawyer.

"Yeah," Levy agreed. "The police report is sloppy as fuck, witnesses claim to have said the same damn thing, I mean anybody can be driving at a damn Sedan in the middle of the night and your car wasn't even a sedan. It just fit the description."

"Conspiracy." Natsu muttered.

"Yeah, I'll see if I can find more solid proof," Levy said, waving to the guards to pick up Natsu. "This does not seem to add up."

"You have three months Levy," Natsu said, as he was placed his handcuffs by the guards. "Find proof that proves I didn't do it."

"I will." Levy picked up her briefcase, waving goodbye to her client.

Natsu was escorted by the 2 guards to what seemed to be a black tinted window car. "Magnolia Prison, where is that at?" He asked the guards.

"Not far from here Mr. Dragneel," one of the guards opened the back door for Natsu, letting him in. "Just for your information, I think your case was a pile of crap."

"Oi, Sting, no conversing with the prisoner." The other guard told his partner.

"It's true, the majority of the case was all controversial, you even know it Rogue." Sting spoke his mind about the case, having the same thoughts as Natsu.

"Finally, someone other than Levy agrees with me on this." Natsu was somewhat happy to know that there were a few people who agreed with him on his appeal.

"I guess you're right to some degree," Rogue got on the passenger side of the car, closing his door. "But who are we to judge a Judge's order?"

"Apparently, we'd be considered anti-death penaltists," Sting got behind the wheel, putting in the key and turning on the engine. "Wait a minute, why are we driving him to the prison?"

"Apparently, the cops are hold up at a crime scene." Rogue told Sting.

"Hmm what exactly is happening?" Sting asked, still not having drove out the parking space.

"Some nutjobs going by the name of _Oracion Seis_ are holding up a bank, and have over a hundred hostages." Rogue said.

"Geez, and I thought this world wasn't going to hell." Natsu finally broke his silence.

"Oi, Mr. Dragneel." Sting called out to him, which surprised Natsu.

"Um yeah?" Natsu awaited for Sting to begin his conversation.

Sting stopped the car at a red light, now able to converse without any trouble. "Your case wasn't the only controversial one around here as well."

"Oh really?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, seemingly showing a slight interest in the topic.

"Are you talking about Erza Scarlet's case as well, Sting?" Rogue somewhat assumed what Sting was about to talk about.

"Yeah." Sting answered, finally having the go in the traffic light. He took a turn to the right, stopping again at a red light.

"What about her case?" Natsu seemed more intrigued in her case.

"Apparently she was also given the Death Penalty," Sting drove again. For the next ten minutes, he drove straight then, along with other drivers, stop at what seemed to be a train passing through. "For her, she was convicted of murdering a senator's brother."

"How is her case just as controversial as mine?" Natsu asked, seemingly losing interest.

"Well, what do you call a person who was in two places at one time?" Rogue said.

"Omnipresent?" Natsu seemingly answered a rhetorical question.

"Controversial you idiot." The train finally made its way through its path, finally opening its crossover path with that of the street. Sting continued on the path to the Prison.

"Still, she could be lying." Natsu somewhat tried to be on the offensive side.

"Yes, because surveillance isn't enough to prove that she was somewhere completely unrelated to where the Senator's brother was at?" Rogue continued with his conversation.

"Oh shit, really? How in the fuck did she get the death penalty?" Natsu was slightly mad, over his own case and very well much mad at her case.

"Controversial." Both guards said at the exact same time.

"I swear, our justice system is fucked up." Natsu sighed, but seemingly was content over the fact that he wasn't the only one screwed over by the Justice System.

"I hear you," Sting agreed. He turned, making his way into Magnolia Prison. "Here we are."

Natsu looked outside his window, looking at the prison from the outside before making his way inside. "It's pretty huge."

"Yup, they keep the notorious thugs around here." Rogue commented on the prison.

"What does that say about me?" Natsu asked.

"Well, you're not notorious, Mr. Dragneel." Sting came to a stop, stopping the car all together.

The guards got out first, second behind them was Natsu, escorting him to the prison's front door. "I'll take it from here boys." A tall blonde with what seemed to be a scar on his face, took over the escort.

"Ok Officer Dreyar," Rogue said, going back to the car. "Tell your grandfather I said hi."

"Will do," the blonde grabbed Natsu by the arm and took him. "See you boys."

The officer took Natsu inside the Prison. "Wow, this place on the inside does not look that bad actually." Natsu commented on the fanciness of the prison walls and such.

"Easy Mr…."

"Mr. Dragneel. Natsu Dragneel." Natsu repeated his name for the officer.

"Easy there Mr. Dragneel, I don't converse with people on Death Row." The officer snickered, passing other officers and guards on duty.

"What if I told you I've been wrongfully accused?" Natsu said.

"What if I told you I've heard it all before?" The officer slightly mocked Natsu.

"I should've guessed you've heard it all before." Natsu somewhat sighed.

"Like I said, not talking." The officer no longer talked, finally reaching what seemed to be the Warden's office.

He seemingly opened the door, being greeted by an old but short man. "Laxus." The warden said, reaching in for a hug to the officer.

"'Sup gramps," Laxus stopped the hug, introducing the new inmate. "This here is the new Death Row inmate."

"Another?" The old man put his hand on his chin, seemingly finding it suspicious. "What's your name kid?"

"The name's Natsu Dragneel." Natsu greeted, reaching in with his hand, awaiting for a handshake.

The warden greeted back, also reaching in with his hand, somewhat appreciating the handshake. "Natsu Dragneel? Odd name, but whatever. I'm the Makarov Dreyar, Warden of Magnolia Prison."

"Makarov?" Natsu repeated his name, somewhat getting accustomed to it.

"Yes," the warden went to his desk. "Laxus here, is gonna take you to processing and your cell. How much time do you have?"

"Three months." Natsu answered.

"Just like Scarlet, interesting…," Makarov murmured to himself. "Anyways, off with you."

Laxus took Natsu again, this time for processing. For the next 20 minutes or so, he changed to an inmate suit, put his belongings in a box where it would be stored until a loved collects it after he dies, and continued to his cell.

As he entered what seemed to be the C-Wing part of the prison, he noticed someone. The mysterious red headed girl who also received the Death Penalty on faulty evidence. "Was that Erza Scarlet?" He asked Laxus, who then opened the cell next to Erza's.

"Yup," he took of Natsu's chains and closed the cell door behind him as he went in. "Probably the last female you'll ever get to see in your life." He snickered away.

Natsu sat on his bed, thinking over his own case. "I fucking hate this," he whispered to himself. "In three months, I'm gonna either die by lethal injection or electric chair." He then looked over and saw another inmate.

"What are you looking at!?" A long yellowed haired man said, having a tattoo that somewhat resembled that of a heart.

"Nothing, I didn't mean to look at you." Natsu turned and looked back at his ceiling before the man called out to him.

"Better turn you ugly ass motherfucker." The long haired man now insulted Natsu.

"What did you say?" Natsu quickly got up from his bed, being right behind his bars.

"You heard me, I called you an ugly ass motherfucker." He repeated himself once more to Natsu.

"Tch, big words coming from a dumbass." Natsu retorted back.

"Why you litte-"

Suddenly, both were interrupted by a guard doing his rounds for the day. "Enough!" He somewhat yelled.

"He started it." Natsu somewhat said.

"I don't care who started it," the guard came closer, revealing himself to Natsu. "I just want you both to shut the hell up!"

"Why are half naked?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, seemingly questioned the guard.

The guard looked down, realizing he has no shirt on. "It's a habit. New to Magnolia prison?" The guard asked Natsu.

"Yeah. The name is Natsu Dragneel." Even behind bars, Natsu reached in for a handshake.

Realizing that Natsu posed no threat, the guard reached in as well, giving him a handshake. "The name is Gray Fullbuster. You're on Death Row as well?"

"Unfortunately, yeah." Natsu said, sighing and sitting back down on his bed.

"You? On Death Row!? What'd you do? Kill the Warden's dog?" The long haired man laughed, mocking Natsu.

"Quiet down Zancrow!" Gray, with his baton, hit Zancrow's steel bars, somewhat scaring him.

"Thank god," Natsu said, thanking Gray for shutting Zancrow up. "And yes, I'm on Death Row."

"So exactly what did you do to get on Death Row?" Gray asked, somewhat wanting to hear Natsu's story.

"I'm gonna die either way, even if I didn't actually do anything," Natsu began. "I was framed for vehicular manslaughter, said I killed 5 people."

"You're saying you didn't do it?" Gray asked.

"Yup, all the evidence was all controversial. None held no type of merit whatsoever, hell even the car was a Sedan. I don't even own a Sedan!" Natsu somewhat grunted, revealing the evidence that convicted him the first place.

"Ouch, sounds very suspicious, almost like a conspiracy." Gray added.

"Yeah, now I'm stuck in this crappy cell," Natsu laid back on his back, closing his eyes. "I have to wait until my lawyer actually gets proof that I'm innocent."

"Who's your lawyer?" Gray asked.

"Levy McGarden." Natsu said.

"Her? She's good. If you want solid proof, she's one of the lawyers you really need to count on," Gray said, starting his rounds once more. "You hear that Erza, you're not the only one anymore." He said, passing through her cell.

She didn't say anything. She just kept in her silence.

"So you believe me?" Natsu got up from his bed, and went towards his bars, seeing if the guard believed him.

"I hear you," he said, about to turn in the next hall way. "Just trying to comprehend it now."

"Ugh." Natsu went back on his bed. He turned to his side once more, looking at Zancrow, the other inmate.

"Jesus Christ, do you have some sort of disorder that makes you want to pierce those eyes at me!?" Zancrow grunted, turning to his side, avoiding Natsu's line of sight.

"Geez," Natsu turned again, facing his ceiling once more. "What did you do to end up here?"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Zancrow menacingly laughed. "Do you really want to know?" He turned to look at Natsu, making Natsu somewhat uncomfortable.

"Yeah why not?" Natsu, now being the one avoiding the eye contact.

"I went to a hospital?" Zancrow began.

"And what? Killed a doctor or something?" Natsu assumed much.

"Nope," Zancrow, more loudly, laughed. "I killed every baby and their mother while they were asleep."

"…" Natsu just looked at his ceiling, somewhat scarred internally.

Within the next hour, Natsu had fallen asleep.

The next day came. "Yo, Natsu get up." A familiar guard voice said, knocking on his cell bars with his baton.

"Ugh, what time is it?" Natsu rubbed his face, wiping away the crust from his face along with his saliva.

"It's about to be 7:30 a.m." With Natsu's vision becoming stronger, he noticed it was Gray who woke him up.

"What happened to the other guy?" Natsu seemingly looked over to the next cell, seeing it was empty.

"You mean Zancrow? His execution was yesterday at midnight," Gray revealed to Natsu. "Oi Erza, get up."

"Good riddance." Natsu was silently content with that.

Suddenly, a blonde female nurse came by with what seemed to be syringes, and other medical supplies. "Natsu Dragneel?" She called out.

"Yeah?" He said.

Gray seemingly opened his cell door, letting the nurse come in and do what seems to be a checkup. "I'm Nurse Lucy, I'm here to do a check up on you." She took out a clipboard and begins writing with her pen.

"Is it mandatory?" Natsu seemingly resisted the checkup.

"Yes," Lucy put the clipboard back on her cart. "Stretch your arm out, I'm going to check your blood pressure."

"Great," Natsu, irritated, stretched out his arm, letting Lucy put the blood pressures cuff. "So this is how I start the day, huh?"

"Only for today, I do another one before your execution date." She checked the monitor, observing the blood pressure.

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" Natsu asked her.

"Not really," she took off the cuff and proceeded to get a syringe. "Now hold still."

"Ouch." Natsu was slightly hurt by her action.

"Sorry, that's why I said don't move." She put a simple Band-Aid on him.

"What's next?" He asked her.

She reached in for her clipboard. "Now I'm gonna ask you a series of questions now, you ready?"

"Yeah."

After several minutes, he made it to the last questions. "Ok now, have you ever had sex?" She revealed.

"…" Natsu didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a no." She marked on her clipboard.

"I'm guessing we're done here right?" Natsu asked.

Gray opened the cell door once more, letting Lucy exit out. "Yup." She answered.

"Good." Natsu laid down once more, staring at the ceiling once more.

Gray had gone back to take his rounds, leaving Natsu and Erza alone for a while.

"I heard your story yesterday, kiddo." A female voice suddenly spoke.

"Erza? I thought you were a mute of some sort." Natsu was surprised that she finally spoke.

"No, I just chose not to speak."

 **A/N:** Hope you like it. This is definitely a Nerza/Natza fanfic but this will be my first attempt at Gale/Gajeevy. Bear with me, the first chapter maybe slow, but overtime, it'll get better. Thanks and leave a review, I'll update soon.


	2. Chapter 2: New Cook

"So why did you wait to speak until now?" Natsu asked, still laying down on his bed, looking at his ceiling as he conversed with the newly acquainted friend through the wall which separated both of them.

"That Zancrow dude," Erza spoke. "He just creeped me the fuck out. Besides, I did not want to be the last voice he ever heard before dying."

"I suppose that holds some merit," Natsu said, putting his hands behind his head. "I can see why you wouldn't talk. It's not like I get it but it's good enough for you, I guess."

"Yeah," Erza continued to speak. "I heard you ramble yesterday of being accuse of a crime you didn't commit."

"Basically," He stretched his arms out, picking himself up from his bed and sat back down. "I heard that your story is basically the same as mine. Is that so?"

"Yep. Nothing concrete, no solid proof or evidence, and just another messy ass report." Erza snuggled onto her pillow.

Before conversing more, another inmate appeared, whistling and singing which can be heard from around the corner to where Erza's and Natsu's holding cell were. " From the beginning, new I was different. I embraced it! But you didn't… " He sung, turning around the corner with what seemed to look like a mop and cart. He stopped right at the beginning of the new hall. He soaked the mop and continued to mop the floor.

"Yo kid, the singing, is that necessary?" Natsu was somewhat annoyed at his lack of tone with his singing.

"Oops sorry," the boy apologized. Natsu observed him correctly, somewhat surprised to see the young man in this prison. "You the new Death Row inmate?" The boy asked, looking down on the floor, continuing his job.

"Yeah," Natsu saw that boy was also wearing a prisoner's suit. "You're not the janitor I see."

"No I'm not, but when I get out of here in a month, they say I get paid for this." The boy said, soaking the mop once again, continuing.

"What are you in for kid?" Natsu asked, seemingly that's somewhat the only logical thing he can say in a place like this.

"Theft," he replied. "I stole a bunch of cars, selling them. Also pickpocketed as well."

"You're a thief?" Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm still under aged," he then stopped what he was doing, going in for a handshake. "My name is Romeo, and I'm 16."

"The name is Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. And 16?" Natsu was surprised at Romeo's age, still shook his hand nonetheless. "Kid, you should be at school, not in this damn dump."

"That's what a lot of inmates told me when I first got here," he continued on with cleaning the floor. "But where I grew up, it was a really rough life."

"What do your parents think of you, being in this place and such?" Natsu asked.

"My father abandoned us," Romeo grunted, could barely say anything good about a father he hardly knew. "And my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Hell, I don't even think she knows where I am or who I am."

"For such a young man, you seem to be a pessimist." Natsu replied.

"So what?" Romeo then stopped, somewhat annoyed of Natsu's last words.

"I'm in Death Row for something I didn't even commit," Natsu grunted about. "I should be the one with all that negativity of yours."

"Touché." Romeo was slightly at ease now again.

"You're gonna be out in a month?" Natsu asked, remembering what the kid said earlier.

"Yeah," Romeo happily giggled about. "God man, I wish the month already passed. I really want to get out of here."

"Who's waiting for you on the other side?" Natsu asked, thinking to himself why he wants to get out early.

"This girl," he revealed. "Her name is Wendy. She was helping me out, better than my own father or mother could."

"I see, what's so special about this girl anyways?" Natsu was slightly intrigued.

"Well to be totally honest, I'm not so sure she's still waiting for me," his morality had slightly disappeared. "And the reason why she's special is because, well I like her." He suddenly blushed, but looked down, hiding it from Natsu.

"Huh, I remember my first crush, never had the courage to tell her I liked her." Natsu told Romeo.

"Do you still know who she is?" Romeo asked, intrigued in Natsu's love life.

"No, that was back when I was still in High school, I hardly remember anybody from that time." He cheerfully laughed.

"Ah, that's all right, I'm sure she was pretty." Romeo said.

Another recurring set of footsteps were head, coming towards them. "Oi, Romeo, hurry up and finish already." Gray reappeared, bringing what seemed to be a food cart.

"Ah sorry," he put the mop back on to the janitor's cart and vamoosed out there. "See ya', Natsu." He wave fully waved bye.

"See ya," He waved back. "Nice kid. Hey Gray, what time is it?" He looked at Gray, passing out food trays to him and to Erza.

He looked at his watch and then back at Natsu. "It's about to be 12:30 p.m." He said.

"12:30!? It's the afternoon!? What happened to breakfast!?" Natsu was a bit angered at the guard.

"Our cook had just quit this morning," he said giving the first tray to Erza. "Oi, Erza, your food tray is here." In the middle of the bars were rectangle like opening.

Quietly, she got up and took her tray, returning back to her bed sitting down and begun to eat. Gray then went to Natsu's cell and gave him his tray. He did the same as Erza but he somewhat questioned the appearance of the food. "What the hell is this?" He poked with his spork at what seems to be a pile of brown mush that is supposed to be the actual lunch.

"It looks bad, I know." Gray sat on the chair that was next to Natsu's cell.

"It smells really bad too," Natsu then tried to eat the other edibles in his tray. "The only good thing on this damn tray seems to be this pudding." With his spork, he grabbed some and put it in his mouth.

"Pudding? Today's menu never mentioned anything about pudding being in the tray." Gray thought through the menu in his head.

"BUAH!" Natsu put his tray on his bed, and quickly went to the toilet that was next to the end side of his bed and spat it out. "What the hell is that!?" He leaned next to the toilet, hoping not to vomit.

"I think those were the mash potatoes…" Gray still thought, putting his finger on his chin. "I'm not sure."

"Jesus Christ, I even the chair is better than poisonous food…" Natsu's stomach growled, somewhat starving.

"Yo Erza," Gray got up from his chair and went to go check on Erza. To his surprise the tray laid on the floor, seemingly looking like the first time Gray gave her the tray, untouched. "Guessing you didn't like it neither…" He quickly glanced at her, laying on her bed on her side. He turned around and went back to his chair.

"I can make better food than this you know?" Natsu said, still locked next to the side of the toilet.

"You? Cook? I'll believe it when pigs fly." Gray took out a sandwich from his bag he carried earlier and ate, taking a big chunk of the sandwich.

"It's true, I work- I used to work at Salamander's before I ended here." Natsu corrected mid-sentence.

"Salamander's? You mean that five star restaurant?" Gray looked at Natsu intently. "What? As a bust boy probably." He joked around.

"I'm being serious, I was there top notch chef." Natsu crossed his arms on his chest, being more serious to Gray.

"It's true." A third voice joined in, walking towards the two chatting. He revealed himself.

"Warden? What are you doing here?" Gray asked, surprised to see Makarov around this wing.

"This place needs a cook," the warden walked closer, being somewhat in front Erza's cell. "And who better to fill those shoes? Natsu right here." He was now in front Natsu's cell, still located near his toilet for safety purposes. "So what'd you say sport?"

"Hm…" Natsu thought for a second.

"Come on now, you really want to be stuck in this cell forever?" Makarov persuaded the pinkette. "And besides, you really want the ceiling be your last memory?"

"Sir, are you sure we should let him out?" Gray asked the warden, somewhat worried over his decision. "I mean the guy is on Death Row, you know?"

"I'm a good judge of character," the warden looked at Gray, smiling about. "And I can tell that he's harmless."

"Fine." Natsu finally responded.

"Are you sure?" The warden let him think for another moment.

"Yeah," Natsu got up and stood before Makarov from behind his cell's bars. "On one condition though."

"Seriously?" Gray couldn't believe that the prisoner said that.

"What is your request then sport?" Makarov looked at Natsu, waiting for his request.

"Only if she comes along." Natsu then pointed towards Erza's cell, which surprised both men and Erza herself who was still under her cover.

"You want her to come?" Makarov asked once more.

"Yeah." Natsu assured him, confident over his request.

"Hmmm…" The warden thought it over.

"Sir, you're not seriously considering his request?" Gray bursted out saying, getting out of his chair and letting the chair fall over. "SIR!"

"Quiet down Gray," Makarov told Gray, shutting him. He then turned back to Natsu, still waiting for his response. "I suppose I can work with those terms, but…"

"But what?" Natsu asked, somewhat concerned.

"Why do you want her with you?" The warden asked.

"Well," he scratched his head, trying to find an excuse. He looked at Erza's cell and to his surprise, she was right there behind her cell, looking over his. "Well because I'm gonna need… an assistant. Yeah that's it, an assistant."

Gray was baffled by his excuse. "Seriously? You just came up with that on the fly!"

"Ok." The warden said, shocking Gray.

"Y-You believe this guy!?" Gray was absurd to hear the warden's answer.

"He makes up a compelling argument." The warden said, taking Gray's keys and looking for both inmates' cell keys.

"HE JUST MADE THAT UP!" Gray said, pointing at Natsu who smirked.

"Gray," the warden then spoke up. "Don't you have rounds to do?"

Gray just stood there, jaw dropping, expressionless to what Makarov just told him. The warden successfully walked up to Natsu's cell door, opening his door. He then walked to Erza's cell, opening it as well. "Come on now, follow me and I'll take you to the kitchen." The warden walked forward leading both to the prison's kitchen. They left, leaving Gray behind, still shocked to what the warden had told him.

After several minutes, the warden and both inmates' made it to the prison's kitchen. To Natsu's surprise, the kitchen seemed a lot cleaner than anything he's seen so far in the prison. "Whoa, this place is pretty huge." He commented, sliding his finger over the stove, checking to see if it was dirty or not.

"Yup, state of the art." The warden also added.

"I-It's beautiful." Erza spoke, looking everywhere around the kitchen.

"She spoke?" The warden somewhat was startled to hear Erza's voice for the first time.

"Yeah, she can speak." Natsu answered instead. Erza was still looking around, being mesmerized around the kitchen.

"Hmm, I trust that you both can be alone here," Makarov started to go towards the door, on his way somewhere else. "Don't make me regret my decision, eh, Natsu." He closed the door behind him, leaving both of them confused.

"Well I guess we should start cooking, right Erza?" Natsu turned to look at Erza, who was looking over today's menu.

"The thing mushy thing today," she read out. "It was spaghetti with meatballs?"

"What!? That did not look like any spaghetti and meatballs I've never seen in my life!" Natsu was enraged, feeling sorry for the food that was mishandled. "… What about the pudding?"

"Like Gray said," she put the menu back on the counter. "It was mashed potatoes."

"… I'm gonna find the person who mistreated this food…" Natsu ranted about lowly.

"Say Natsu." Erza called him, seizing him from his rant.

"Yeah?" He looked at Erza, awaiting her to speak.

"Why?" She said, barely audible.

"Why what?" Confused to what she had just said, Natsu walked closer.

"Why did you want me to come over here with you?" She asked, much more clearly than before. "Why'd you vouch?"

"I have my reasons," he got closer and patted her on the back, somewhat making her blush. "Besides, I really do need help. This place has a lot of prisoners that are starving."

"When will you tell me then?" She asked another question.

"Hmm?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, confused to what she has said.

"Your reasons, when will you tell me?" She repeated once more.

Natsu walked over the sink, pulled up his sleeves up to his shoulders and washed his hands. Soon after, he put on an orange apron. "I'll tell you when we have 2 months left. Capiche?"

"I suppose…" She somewhat agreed to his terms.

"Alright, now pass me those tomatoes over there on your left." He pointed.

"Right." Erza quickly picked up the box filled with tomatoes and gave them to Natsu.

Suddenly, from where they came from, someone had bursted into the doors. "AHA! I knew-" The stranger stopped mid-sentence, realizing Erza is just giving Natsu the box of tomatoes. "…"

"Hey there Gray." Natsu greeted the guard.

"Hmm, where's the warden?" Gray looked around the kitchen.

"Not here, he just left us." Natsu responded.

"He trusted you two alone here?" A bit of skepticism was hinted in Gray's voice.

"Yeah." Natsu was doing all the talking.

"Well, if he's not going to look over you two, then I am." Gray then got the nearest chair and sat down, looking and observing both Natsu and Erza.

"Good, we could use the extra pair of hands." Natsu said, washing the tomatoes. Erza washed her hands then she took some tomatoes and washed as well.

"Ah no," Gray said, seemingly his shirt was gone. "I'm just supervising."

"Nope, you're gonna help." Natsu said, grinning at him.

"Anyways, your lawyer is here Erza." Gray notified Erza.

"Hmm." she then started to walk towards the door. She opened it and saw one of the guards standing there, waiting for her to take her.

"Oi, come and help me you dumb guard." Natsu said, still washing the tomatoes.

"Fine." Gray said, walking up to the other sink and grabbed one of the tomatoes.

"Wash your hands first." Natsu told him.

"Since when did you become my boss, fire brain?" Gray retorted, nonetheless, he still washed his hands.

"Fire brain?" Natsu was slightly astonished at his insult. "What are you? 9?"

"Geez, lighten up." Gray commented, now with his hands washed, he picked up the tomato once more.

In the other room, behind a reinforced glass awaited a long haired man with formal wear. Erza appeared in the other side of the reinforced, taking the other seat. "What took you so long?" She said.

The man took of his hat. "You know, it's kind of hard to find evidence that proves you aren't a murderer, ya know? Gihi."

 **A/N:** Hope you like the next chapter so far. Don't forget to leave a review.


	3. Chapter 3: A Somewhat Altercation

"Don't you mean _it's hard to find evidence when it's been tampered with_?" Erza corrected what her lawyer meant.

"Don't tell me how to do my job Ms. Scarlet," Gajeel took out papers from his suitcase, neatly placing them around the table that was conjoined with the reinforced glass. "Anyways, found something that most of the jury overlooked." Out of the bunch, he showed her documents that contained the 'written' statement of her crimes.

She glanced once. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Look under **Witnesses** ," He told her, pointing somewhat with his eyes. "See anything… strange?"

She looked once more, this time focusing her eyes in the area of interest. "Th-There's a signature!? But there was no witness during my hearing…"

"My exact thoughts." Gajeel put the document back on the table.

"This doesn't make sense…" Erza kept looking at the piles of papers in her front view. "And the signature… it looked like a ribbon of some sort."

"It suspicious, ain't it?" Gajeel leaned back on his chair, somewhat stretching his legs.

"Very." She agreed with him.

"I should look more into it, see if I can find this 'witness' of theirs." Gajeel started packing the documents and such back into his suitcase.

"Hold up," Erza still had something else to say to her lawyer. "There's this other case I want you to look into to."

"What? Another case?" Gajeel put his suitcase once more down, hearing what her defendant had to say.

"Yeah," Erza said. "There's another inmate here, on Death Row."

"So?" Seemingly not interested, Gajeel grunted.

"He had told me that he was also persecuted with almost no concrete evidence as well," Erza looked at Gajeel, seemingly hoping he knew where she was going with this. "Sound familiar?"

"So? He could be lying," Gajeel said. "All Death Row inmates lie."

"Really?" Erza smirked at Gajeel, making him somewhat uncomfortable.

"Ok, some." He corrected himself.

"But he meant it," she said, persuading Gajeel to look at his case. "I just can tell."

"Tch," Gajeel rolled his eyes, acting like he's never heard that bit. "He can be a sociopath here Ms. Scarlet. These type of people want you to feel sorry for them."

"He's not a sociopath!" She exclaimed, somewhat startling her lawyer and the guards.

"Ok, ok," he retreated his last sentence. "I'll take your word for it, either way though, I don't know this person, or his lawyer."

"His name is Natsu Dragneel," she said. "I'm not sure if I heard correctly but I think his lawyer's name is Levy McGarden?"

"Her?" Gajeel was somewhat surprised to hear her name.

"Yeah, you know her?" Erza asked.

"I know that she's a damn good lawyer, just as me." He said. "Don't know how she looks like though."

"So are you gonna check?" She asked once more.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He got up from his chair, preparing to leave. "But…"

"But what?" The guards were getting Erza.

"If this turns out to be a false lead, I don't know what else I'm gonna do." He said.

The guards took her away again. Gajeel stood there for a bit, before picking up his suitcase and leaving. Just as he approached the exit from the visiting, he accidentally hit someone.

"Ow!" Both of them said.

"Hey you idiot, ever look down!?" A short petite bluenette said.

"What?" He looked down, eyeing the short girl.

"Yeah, you see me now?" She said, raising her voice a slight bit.

Gajeel then went on his knees, somewhat mocking her height. "What's a shrimp like you doing here?" He said. "Where's your mom and dad?" He continued to mock her.

"Oh you got jokes," she angrily said. "How about this for a joke?" Without hesitation, the bluenette kicked him in the shin.

He instantly got up and grabbed his leg, flailing around on the other leg. "OUCH! WHAT THE HELL YOU DAMN RUNT!"

"What did you say?" Again, the bluenette hit him in the other leg.

He went down again on his knees, this time massaging his shins for the kick. "Tch."

The petite bluenette just grinned and walked in. "How does it feel to be on my level?" She chuckled at her own joke.

"Not funny." He retorted.

"Then next time don't mock my height." She said.

Gajeel finally got up and walked out of the visiting room, walking somewhat funny from the altercation. The bluenette sat where Gajeel sat, placing her suitcase on the table. "Who are you going to see miss?" A guard asked.

"Natsu Dragneel."

…

"That's not how you cut a damn tomato!" Natsu exclaimed at Gray, cutting the tomato in an awkward way.

"… It's not?" Gray stopped what he was doing.

"NO!" Natsu said. "Let me borrow the knife, I'll show you how to cut them."

"For the last time, I'm not giving you the damn knife!" Gray yelled.

"Really? I could've used the damn fork to stab you if I wanted to!" Natsu yelled back.

Silence ensnared the room for a bit. "… Fine." Gray said, breaking the silence, and handing over the knife toward Natsu. He couldn't come up with a counter-argument for what Natsu had said.

"Thank you," he picked out another tomato from the box and started his demonstration. "Now watch and learn."

Just as he was about to slice the tomato, the door opened. The guards had brought Erza to assist in the cooking once more. "Hey Erza." Gray greeted her once more. A simple gesture is what she answered.

The guards still didn't left. "Yo, Dragneel, your lawyer is here to see you." The guard put his walkie-talkie back on his chest piece.

"My lawyer? 'Bout time." He put the knife on the counter and rapidly headed to the door. The guards, along with Natsu, closed the door behind them, leaving Erza and Gray to sort with the kitchen wares.

Gray picked up the knife and seemingly handed the knife to Erza. "I've been told I'm not a good cutter," he was slightly embarrassed. "Here, I hope you know how to cut."

Erza grabbed the knife and went to the cutting board, where the tomato that Natsu had pulled out earlier laid there. "I suppose I can cut it."

…

"Yo, Levy." Natsu happily greeted Levy. He sat down across from her from the reinforced glass.

"Hey Natsu." Levy was still a bit annoyed of what had happened earlier with the stranger.

"Are you ok?" Natsu knew Levy for a long time, and he knew when she was bothered by something.

"Eh? Oh sorry," Levy got herself together again. "It's just I bumped into someone earlier and the incursion was a bit heated."

"Ah can't be that bad." Natsu tried cheering her.

"I kicked him in the shin." She blatantly told Natsu.

"… He called you short?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Close," Levy put her briefcase on the table. "He called me shrimp."

"God, I hate to be him." Natsu chuckled about.

"I've been looking very hard," Levy started taking out documents and such from her briefcase. "So far, I've drawn no conclusions yet."

"Come on Levy, you're practically the only person I know that can find anything out of nothing," Natsu highly praised her skills. "Are you sure you're even trying?"

"Yes I am." She retorted.

"Really? Then what is that?" From behind the reinforced glass, Natsu pointed at the document that was faced in front of him.

"Oh you mean this?" Levy picked up the document and placed it on the glass where Natsu can read it more clearly.

"Yeah under **Witnesses** ," He said. "There was no damn witness at the damn hearing!"

"That's exactly what I said," she put it back on the desk. "And the fact, that signature looks like a ribbon."

"A ribbon? Who the hell draws a ribbon as a damn signature!?" Natsu tried to understand the signature left by the unknown witness.

"I don't know, but I've seen worse," Levy said, fixing her glasses. "Anyways, this could be a lead."

"Good, we've been at a dead end for too long." Natsu was somewhat glad to know about this new clue.

"Yeah," she started to pack her things. "I'll see if I can find out who wrote the signature. Ok?"

"Hold up," Natsu stopped her from packing anything further. "There's something else I have to tell you."

"Does it pertain to the case?" She asked him.

"I really hope it does," Natsu scratched his head. Anyways, have you heard of Erza Scarlet's case?"

"Scarlet? Isn't she the one who killed the President's brother or something like that?" Levy asked, finally done packing all the documents into her briefcase.

"Here's the kicker though," Natsu fixed her statement. "She was framed. Sound familiar?"

"How do you know that?" Levy was slightly irritated at Natsu's friend's story. "For all I know, she could be some crazy sociopath trying to make you feel sorry for her."

"No she's not." Natsu affirmed her of that.

"Are you sure?" Levy was still not convinced at the story.

"Definitely," Natsu said.

"Huh," Levy heavily sighed, lifting her glasses with her right hand and wiping her eye with the left. She put her glasses back on. "Fine, if this turns out to be-"

"It will not." He reassured her.

"Can you really put that much faith on such a stranger, that what? You only met for a few days?" Levy still argued.

"I did the same for you, did I not?" Natsu, calmly, exclaimed back.

"That was different," Levy said, about to leave. "You and I were kids back at the orphanage."

"I know that," Natsu got up from his chair. "I just can tell that she was telling the truth, you know?"

"Huh, there's no use in arguing about this right?" Levy asked.

"Just promise you'll look into it?" He asked her once more.

"I'll take your word for it then." She said.

"Thanks," Natsu was about to head back in. "Bye now."

"Bye." She waved goodbye toward him.

She started walking out the visiting room and back toward the main prison's front desk. Just as she quickly made her way, she bumped into another person.

"Ouch!" Both of them said.

"Sorry ma'am didn't see you there." The blonde guard said.

"Typical." She said, picking herself up.

"Oi, I said I was sorry." The blonde said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She started to walk away from the scene she and the guard made. Moments later, she arrived at the main desk, where the front doors were located at.

"See you next time Miss McGarden." A green haired guard said behind the desk.

"See you Freed." She said, walking out the door.

Outside, a taxi awaited the bluenette. She entered, and seated at the back, putting her seatbelt on and putting her briefcase on the next side. "Where to, ma'am?" The taxi asked.

"Other side of town, please." She said.

After 30-40 minutes, the long awaited car drive came to a stop, arriving at what seemed to be a building. "Here we are, ma'am."

"Thanks." She tipped the driver and got out with her briefcase.

Upon entering the building, she checked her mailbox to see, well, her mail. "Nothing." She said.

She walked up the stairs until she made it to the 7th floor of the building. The second door to the right side of the hall was her room. "Home sweet home." She said, taking out her keys from her right pocket.

She opened the door and quickly made it inside, closing the door behind her. "What time is it?" She looked over at the wall clock. "7:34… oh shit, I'm missing my TV show!" She ran towards her couch, which was positioned in front of the TV.

She quickly tossed her sandals from her foot onto the rug and got the remote control from the little table that was on the right side of the couch, where her lamp stood on. "Come on now!" She hurried and turned her TV on.

As the TV turned on, she quickly turned to channel 12. The channel's show had already passed the opening to her show and commercials soon appeared. "Yes," she silently said to herself. "I'm not too late."

Just as she was about to put the control on the couch, her phone rang. "Oh what now…" She looked over back at her lamp, where her phone to laid about.

She went to it and quickly answered. "McGarden residence." She said out loud.

"Is this Levy McGarden?" A manly voice said from the other line.

"Yeah, who is this?" She asked back.

"This is Gajeel Redfox," he said. "I'm a lawyer and my client had told me about your interesting case."

"Case?" She asked, somewhat puzzled at the man's words.

"Yeah, the… Natsu Dragneel case." He said.

"What about it?" She asked him.

"My client had told me that you may have a lead to her case." Gajeel said over line.

"Is your client Erza Scarlet?" Levy somewhat knew who the man was.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Gajeel said, sounding somewhat surprised.

"My client had told me about your client as well." She said.

"Good, you're caught up, I see." He said,

"Well technically, you can't see." She chuckled at her own joke.

"Laugh it up girl." He said, getting back to topic.

"So are we going to meet up or what?" She asked.

"I suppose," he said. "So when can we meet up?"

Levy thought for a second, seemingly looking back at her TV. The commercials were still on. "How about tomorrow in the morning?" She said.

"Sounds good." He agreed on the date.

"Where?" She asked about the location.

"How about Salamanders?" He said.

"You really want to go there?" She asked, hoping it wasn't his last option.

"What? It has the best damn coffee in the morning." He affirmed her.

"Well I guess we can meet there." She lowly sighed, laying down on her couch.

"Alright then." He said.

"Well I suppose you can hang up now." She said, somewhat mocking him.

"Tch." He said, finally hanging up.

Levy put the phone down back on the small table where it once laid on. "Now back to New Girl." The TV announced.

"Ah yes." Levy just stared at her TV, somewhat hypnotized at the show.

After half an hour had passed, Levy had gotten up from her couch, seemingly walking towards the kitchen and into another room, where her bed was. She quickly went into her bathroom and changed, coming out of the bathroom and simply jumping onto her bed. "Gosh, it's been a long day." She turned to her back and looked up at her ceiling.

Slumber was slowly setting in, knocking Levy little by little, before she knew it, she had gone to a deep slumber.

 **A/N:** Sorry for updating late, this past week, the heat was really intense and I was just too lazy to turn on my computer XD sorry. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't forget leave a review. Bye now.


	4. Chapter 4: It's Not A Bomb

The next morning, rays of light crept from the cracks of Levy's curtain, slowly lighting up her room. "RING!" The startling sound of her alarm rang, ensnaring the room with its noise.

Still half awake, Levy reached for her clock. Sadly, she couldn't reach it. "Fuck! All the damn time..." She cursed about, mostly about her height. She simply rolled to the right of her, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling. She rubbed her eyes before finally shutting up the damn alarm.

She stretched about as she laid on her bed. She sat on her bed and looked at the time. "7:04 a.m." She sighed heavily and got off her bed, heading toward the bathroom that was just a few feet away from her room.

She looked at herself in the mirror. Messy hair and somewhat faded dark rings under her eyes. She turned her sink on, reached in with her hands, soaking them and rubbing her face with them, making her more awake than she had been before. "Cold water…" She grabbed her light brown towel and dried her face.

She headed back into her room, heading towards her wardrobe. "Let's see what I'm going to take…" She opened her wardrobe, revealing a bunch of her lawyer attire, small dresses and some of her casual clothes. She ransacked her wardrobe, throwing the majority of her clothes onto her already messy bed. "Oooh these look good." She finally picked out her clothes, heading once again into the bedroom, leaving behind the mess on her bed.

She turned on her faucet on from her bathtub, readying it for a shower. After finally adjusting it to the right temperature to her liking, she pulled the pin that changed the flow of water from the faucet to the shower head. She quickly stripped from her pajamas and entered her bathtub, closing the shower curtain.

Several minutes later, she was done. She reached for towel, folded in place after she had used it to wipe her face earlier. She dried herself a bit before coming out of the bathtub. She place her towel over her body, covering her small body. She took out her left foot first, pressing down on the small carpet like matt in front her and proceeded to finally get out whole from the bathtub.

She grabbed her bra and panties, putting them on first before the rest of her clothes. She then grabbed her white long-sleeved shirt, buttoning it up. She then got her black skirt, putting it on as well. Several minutes passed, fixing her clothes to her liking, putting her hair up in a ponytail and getting out of her bathroom.

As she walked out, she looked at her digital clock. "7:47 a.m." She then proceeded to get out of her room, leaving her mess there to clean for later.

She grabbed her briefcase from her kitchen table and placed it on the couch, there she got her black flat heels from her doorstep to put on. She once again grabbed her briefcase, her cellphone she had left charging on her little end table, her keys and her jacket, and continued to walk out her apartment, locking the door as she closed it from behind.

She walked out of the building, meeting a taxi driver that had just parked right in front of her to her convenient. The man got out from his driver seat, opening the door to Levy. "Here you go ma'am." He smiled at her.

"Thank you." She thanked him, placing her briefcase on the left seat as she took the right one.

He slowly closed the car door, quickly going back to his driving seat. "Where to ma'am?" He looked at her from his interior rearview mirror.

"To Salamander's." She quickly replied.

"Ok ma'am," he adjusted his exterior rearview mirrors before getting out of the parking space. "We'll be there in a jiff."

"Ok."

10 or so minutes later, the driver arrived at the designated location. "Here we are, ma'am." He stopped the car right in front of the restaurant.

Levy quickly, with her briefcase, got out of the taxi. "Thank you," she went to the driver's window. She reached in for her purse, getting out the driver's pay. "How much?"

"$5 ma'am." He told her.

She pulled out a five dollar bill from her purse and gave to the man. "There you go."

"Thank you." The taxi driver drove off.

Levy turned around to look at the restaurant. She then checked her phone, checking on the time. "8:07 a.m." She put it back in her jacket's pocket. "The man better be here." She said to herself, entering Salamander's.

As she walked in, she felt a sudden cold breeze coming from the restaurant's air conditioner. She looked around the restaurant, spotting to see if the other lawyer was here. "I guess I made it here before him," she walked to the nearest table. "Guess I'll have to wait for him." She took a seat near one of the restaurant's windows.

One of the waiters' came by, taking out her pocket sized notebook. "What will you be having- Levy?" She recognized the petite girl.

"Hey Mira." Levy called the waitress by her real name.

"What are you doing here?" Mirajane put her notebook back into her pocket, taking the seat across from Levy.

"I'm here on business duties," Levy instantly assured her from assuming anything. "Nothing else."

"Don't have to be rude much, ya know?" Mirajane commented on her harsh tone.

"I'm sorry, but he always asks for me to come back and what not." Levy apologized, toning down her tone of voice.

"You mean you the boss? Who is also yours and Natsu's adoptive father?" Mirajane clarified on the he.

"Yeah." Levy pouted about.

"Anyways, how's Natsu? Heard you went to visit him yesterday." Mirajane shifted the topic to something else.

"He's good, but the visit was mostly work related for his case." Levy responded.

"Good," Mirajane was glad to hear that. "Has he…"

"Has he what?" Levy raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was supposed to finish her sentence.

"Has he…" Mirajane then turned red, somewhat blushing at her own question. Her look made Levy nervous. "Has he… dropped the soap yet?"

"Mirajane! How could you even ask that question!?" Levy too was now red, embarrassed of her preposterous question.

"Well you 2 are very close in terms of a brother-sister type of way," Mirajane said. "I thought he'd say something like that to you or something."

"Dammit Mira…" Levy facepalmed, her face was no longer red of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she quickly apologized for her question. "I honestly didn't think it was that dirty of a question to ask."

"Geez, wonder why you didn't think of it 'til now…" Levy sighed, leaning her back towards her chair more.

Mirajane got up from the chair. "I should really get back to work now," she took out her notebook and pen once more. "What do you want?"

"Coffee," Levy ordered. "With cream, please."

"Got it," Mirajane scribbled her order down. "You said you were here on business, correct? You're meeting someone?"

"Yeah, it's actually something concerning Natsu's case." Levy put her head down on her briefcase that laid on the table, heavily sighing.

"What do I get the feeling that you're not happy about this?" Mirajane put her little notebook and pen back into her front pocket of her apron.

"It's just, this new evidence was given to me by Natsu himself." Levy told her, revealing the source.

"Well I thought you trusted him?" She sat down again across from Levy.

"I do, I do. It's just that he got this evidence from another Death Row inmate." Levy told her about her concerns of the evidence.

"And?" Mirajane raised an eyebrow.

"I feel like he just got manipulated into thinking it was something to look into…" Levy sighed once more.

"Hey, it's Natsu we're talking about," Mirajane put her hand on her hand, cheering her up. "If he believes that it's actually something that concerns his case, should you not give him the benefit of a doubt here?"

"I guess you're right." Levy's hopes were slightly lifted.

"Anyways, now I really got to get back to work," she quickly got up from the chair. "Your father is gonna kill me if he sees me slacking off."

"Wait." Levy stopped her friend once more.

"What?" Mirajane turned back to look at her friend.

"Don't tell my dad I was here." She requested of her existence in Salamander's.

"No promises," Mirajane headed back to the restaurant's kitchen. "Besides, he's the one that gives me my paychecks."

Levy somewhat grunted at her response. She saw her old co-worker head back, leaving her alone at the table.

She looked outside the window, watching to see if anybody screamed out lawyer. "Wait a minute…" She then saw one particular person she had remembered from somewhere.

The mysterious person came into the restaurant, with a briefcase that resembled hers. He wore a dark suit and some type of a fedora that matched his suit and shoes. He turned to look at Levy, somewhat surprised as well. "Wait a minute…"

"YOU'RE THE PERSON FROM YESTERDAY!" Both screamed in harmony, pointing at each other, startling the others in the restaurant.

"Please don't tell me you're Gajeel Redfox…" Levy said to him.

"Don't tell me you're Levy McGarden…" Gajeel fixed his shades, still keeping his eyes locked on the petite girl.

"Hello there," Mirajane came back, taking Gajeel's order. "What will you be having sir?"

"Tch," he took the seat across from Levy, putting his briefcase on the floor. "I'll have a coffee, no cream."

She scribbled down the man's request, unknowing to her the tension between both Levy and Gajeel. "Comi- oh you're the person Levy's meeting?" She looked at them.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Levy rolled her eyes and had her arms across her chest.

"Tch." Gajeel had the same look and posture as Levy.

"…what's going on here?" She looked at them, confused at what was happening between the two.

"This girl right there," he pointed at Levy, finally being the first to break the silence. "She kicked me in the shin yesterday!"

"Well that's because you insulted my height, you idiot." Levy retorted back at Gajeel.

"I did say I was sorry." He leveled his tone down.

"Yeah, after you kept on calling me shrimp!" She remarked him of his insult from the day before.

"That whole situation could've been avoided if you didn't hit me in the shin!" He raised his voice again.

"No, it could've been avoided if you were to ever check where you were stepping!" She got up from her chair, somewhat slamming both of her hands on the table.

"Did I not say I was sorry about that?!" Gajeel did the same thing.

Their racket somewhat stirred things about in the restaurant, causing the manager to get out of the kitchen to check up on it. He was pretty tall, and had a red dragon tattoo across his right arm. He appeared to be at least in his late 40's. "What in tarnation is going on here?" He walked towards the source of the noise. To his surprise he noticed Mirajane, one of his workers, handling the situation.

"Sir?" Mirajane turned to look at the manager.

"Mirajane what is goin- Levy?" The manager kept his eyes locked on the bluenette.

"Ah crap…" Levy sat back down, placing her head behind her briefcase quickly.

"I know it's you missy," the manager crossed his arms around his chest. "You can come out now."

"Heehee… hey there dad… didn't see you there…" She slowly crept out of her hiding. She saw the stern look Mirajane gave her, slightly disappointed that she had to use that tactic.

"And you," he turned to look back at Mirajane. She quickly wiped the smirk off her face. "Why didn't you tell me my daughter was here!?"

"I… uh… it ran passed my brain?" She hoped her excuse was enough.

"Jesus freaking Christ," he gave out a small yet simple wry laugh. "I told you guys if Natsu or Levy stumble into the restaurant, to inform me. They're my family."

"S-Sorry sir, won't happen again!" Mirajane then quickly fled the scene.

"You're her dad?" Gajeel asked the manager who stood right beside their table. "And your Natsu's dad as well?

"Yeah," the manager responded. "The name is Igneel. I'm the head manager of this damn 5-Star restaurant. Who's asking?"

"His name is Gajeel Redfox," Levy responded, somewhat irritated at the name of his. "She and I apparently have information about our clients."

"He has information on Natsu's case?" He then pulled up a chair, joining and easing their conversation.

"Yeah, and she has information about my client." Gajeel added.

"Why do you look familiar?" Igneel studied the lawyer more.

"Dad, what are you doing?" She looked at her adoptive father, who is inspecting Gajeel.

"Ugh, something the matter?" Gajeel was slightly nervous at the way Igneel looked at him.

"You ever been to the Dragon's Golf Club course?" He asked him.

"Yeah…" He answered him.

"Since when have you played golf?" Levy turned to look at Igneel.

"You know, if ever visited the restaurant every once in a while, you'd know I play golf now." He turned to look at his adoptive daughter.

"I do visit the restaurant every once in a while." She remarked on his statement.

"Coming to the restaurant to visit me only once a month is not considered every once in a while," he somewhat pouted about. "At least in my dictionary."

"Ok, I'll give you that point." Levy said.

"Oh, now I know who you are," he turned back to Gajeel, startling him. "You're Metalicana's kid, aren't you?"

"Y-Yeah, how'd you know?" Gajeel leaned back onto his chair, taking off his fedora like hat and crossed his arms across his chest.

"We play golf and I've seen you pick him up at the Club." He said.

"Dad, don't you have to be cooking something else right now?" Levy subtle told her dad to let her do her job.

"Fine, fine," he got up from his chair and put it back where it belonged. "But just so you know, I love you kiddo."

"Love you to dad." He pecked her on the cheek and soon left to the back.

"Weird old man," Gajeel commented on Igneel. "But he kind of reminds me of my dad."

"Yeah, my dad can get weird," she turned back to look at Gajeel. "Now that our little incursion is over, can we get back on our real topic?"

"Yeah, still though, I'm sorry." Gajeel apologized again.

"I'm sorry too," Levy apologized as well. "Should've never reacted the way I did yesterday."

"No worries," Gajeel took his shades and put them in his interior jacket's pocket in the front. "Anyways, yeah, back to the matter at hand."

Both of them started to take papers and documents out of their briefcases, showing each other what they have on both Erza and Natsu. Several minutes passed, inspecting every note they have taken so far. "Well so far, nothing is similar in any way." Gajeel said, searching about in Levy's pile on Natsu's case.

Levy then saw something similar. Something that caught her eyes attention. "…the same ribbon signature?" She muttered at herself, lightly tapping at the witness signature with her index finger.

"What?" Gajeel thought he heard her say something.

"The signature," she then reached in for her pile, rapidly scattering the documents in search of a certain one. "Found it!" She took the document she found and compared both signatures from both, placing them side by side.

Gajeel got up from his chair somewhat aggressively, leaving skid marks on the floor, coming to see what the fuss was all about in Levy's side of the table. He caught on and saw the results. "The signature!" He pointed out what they both observed. "They're the goddamn same thing!"

"So it's true," Levy said. "Our cases are connected."

"Goddamn conspiracy." Gajeel said to the bluenette.

"Now let's not get too far ahead of ourselves." Levy warned him.

"It's the same goddamn signature!" He insisted.

"We don't even know who it is yet," Levy was slightly bothered about the signature being a ribbon of some sort. "And the question still remains though."

"Yeah I know, how is Scarlet and Dragneel dragged into this?" Gajeel sighed.

"The more we discover, the more questions we ask rather than answers." Levy said.

"I'm tired of this damn chair, you don't know any other places we can go to investigate this shit further?" Gajeel asked her, in hopes of changing the environment.

"Well, we can go to my house, it's not too far from here," she suggested. "It's only ten minutes from here."

"Good, saves my car on gas." Gajeel started to pick up his documents. Levy did the same.

Before leaving the restaurant, she said goodbye to her friends and her father. Soon, they got out of building, heading to Gajeel's black Pontiac. "Nice car." Levy commented on its nice appearance.

"Yeah," he took out his car keys and unlocked it with its safety button. He opened his trunk and put his and Levy's briefcases in them. "Just for the record, I don't have a baby or child seat in the car." He joked around more.

"One more joke like that and you'll be walking on crutches for the rest of your life." Levy warned him from crossing the line.

He held his tongue, opening the shotgun side of his car for Levy like a gentleman and proceeded to sit back in the drivers' seat. "Where to ma'am?" He turned on the ignition, starting up his motor.

"Just around the corner, on Fairy Street." She said as she put her seatbelt.

"Ok."

For the next several minutes, they drove. Passing through and waiting at red lights before finally coming to the building in which Levy's apartment stayed in. "You can park right over there." She pointed at a parking lot that was next to the building.

He took the next turn, driving down the parking lot before finding a parking spot. "Alright," he pressed on a button which was located under the driver's steering wheel, opening the trunk. He then turned his knob switching the car into Park before turning of the ignition. "Let's go."

Both lawyers got their briefcases and headed towards the apartment. They walked about in the stairs making it to the 7th floor of the building which resided Levy's apartment. "Here we are." She noticed a rather small package, no bigger than the size of water bottle, near her door though.

"… Jesus… Freaking… Christ… Doesn't… This… Place… Have… A damn… Elevator!?" Gajeel panted about, holding both briefcases and exhausted from the amount of stairs he climbed up.

She grabbed the small package right after she swung her door open. She let Gajeel go in first, coming in last, closing and locking the door behind her. "What's that?" Gajeel asked her, placing both briefcases on her couch.

"A small package." She inspected it more, hoping to see the return to sender sign.

"GIVE ME THAT!" He quickly got the small package and threw it out the window.

"What the he-" She was then tackled by him, both falling to the ground.

Nothing happened. "OW!" A voice from below yelled, being struck by the small box.

"Strange, I've seen in the movies that those were bombs." Gajeel looked outside the window, still on top of Levy.

"Really?" Levy struggled to keep the man's weight off of her.

"Oh, sorry." He quickly got up, helping Levy get up as well.

"Why would you think there would be a bomb in that small package?" She crossed her arms, giving Gajeel a fierce stern look.

"… too many movies?" He gave her a weak smile, hoping she'd accept the excuse.

"Unbelievable." She started walking towards her door.

"Where are you going?" He asked her, stopping her before she unlocked the door.

"To get the damn package, what else?" She turned back to look at the brooding man.

He put up his finger up, telling her to wait. He walked towards the window and looked outside of it. He saw a man rubbing his head, inspecting the box that was thrown at him unintentionally. "Yo!" Gajeel called out from above. The man looked up and saw Gajeel from the window. "Were you the one that got hit by the box!?" He yelled out.

"Were you the one that threw it!?" The man yelled back, showing the box to Gajeel.

"Sorry," Gajeel apologized. "My girl and I were arguing and I accidentally threw the box in a fit!"

"That's alright!" The man sympathized with Gajeel.

"Can you throw it back up here!?" He requested from the man.

"Sure." The man readied his arm and ferociously threw the box back at Gajeel, from the ground floor back to the seventh.

He barely catched it, hanging from the tips of both his fingers. "Thanks!" He thanked him.

"No problem." The man went about his day and Gajeel proceeded to come back inside the apartment.

"Well that was something." Levy stepped back from the door and went to Gajeel's side.

" _Your girl_?" She asked him.

"Sorry about that," he put the package on her coffee table. "I'll pay you back for the broken window."

"No worries," she sighed at the sight of her broken window. "We should check on what's inside this thing now."

"You're right."

Both of them sat on the couch, slowly opening the small package little by little. Its cover material was ripped and scattered about, revealing the very thing it held on to. "Want to do the honors?" Gajeel gave the small box to Levy, insisting her to open it.

"I guess." She grabbed it and slowly open the top lid of the box, revealing spine tingling piece of evidence.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for updating somewhat late. Anyways, I hope the next update don't come much later than this one. See you until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5: I Just Do

**Author's Note: Sorry about not being able to update, lots of things came up. I will thank all of you for being very patient, I take that notion very serious. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter.**

"Did you send her the _package_?" A female voice spoke through the other line of the phone.

"Yes," a long haired green man stared into Levy's apartment using black binoculars. "It seems the other lawyer working on Scarlet's case is with her."

"Good, like taking out 2 birds with one stone," the female sounded satisfied. "Has she opened it?"

"Yeah," as he saw through the window, Levy seemed to have thrown the box back onto her coffee table, her eyes were now watery and it seemed like Gajeel was about to witness the horror inside the box himself as he picked it up. "Like you said boss, she instantly got scared."

"And how about that face-pierced fellow?" She asked now about Gajeel's reaction.

The green haired man stared back into the room with his binoculars once more. He saw Gajeel open the small box, but no reaction hasn't occurred yet. "No response yet…"

…

"A t-tongue!?" Gajeel said as he opened the box, revealing the very thing that terrified the bluenette. "This is what made you freak out!?"

"That doesn't bother you!?" Levy was surprised at his reaction. Most normal human beings would get scared, if not at least feel a bit worried. "THAT'S A HUMAN TONGUE YOU BASTARD!"

"First of all," Gajeel stopped her from assuming much. "It does bother, but it's a good thing."

"HOW IS GETTING THIS!" She pointed at the box which was back on the coffee table. "A GOOD THING!?"

"It means, whoever or whomever it is trying to frame Scarlet and Dragneel knows we're getting under their skin or skins." Gajeel pointed out.

"And?" Levy was no longer yelling and throwing a hissy fit.

"Which means we're getting close at saving them from meeting their end of the tunnel." Gajeel said.

"Dammit…" Levy somewhat pouted on the information.

"I thought the whole point of doing this is was to save them!?" Gajeel was astonished at her reaction to his information.

"It's not that," she explained. "I'm just kind of mad right now because…"

Gajeel expected her to finish but she sat there with her lips closed. "Because?" He somewhat helped her out.

"Because, that'll mean that you're correct…" She sighed.

"About this being a-"

"DON'T YOU SAY IT!" She cut him off rather quickly.

Gajeel simply put his hands above his head, gesturing his surrender. "Alright, alright," Gajeel wasn't going to be that one guy. "And second, that my girl, is not a human's tongue."

She looked at the box, not opening it again. "I-It's not?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Nope, that is a cow's tongue." He clarified.

"A… cow's?" She could only give the man a rather peculiar face.

"Trust me, when I was growing up, I used to live in a farm with my father, not far from this city." He further explained to why the tongue is not a man's but a cow's.

"Your father is Metalicana, right?" She tried remembering the name once her father mentioned it back at the restaurant.

"Yeah." He simply nodded.

"And?" She expected him to explain further and how that instantly should've made sense to her when it wasn't.

"Well, on our farm, we raised cows," Gajeel said, leaning more onto the single couch. "And those bastards would always eat their poops. I and my father would usually have to brush their teeth afterwards."

"That's sounds disgusting." Just imagining the cows eating their poop made Levy's stomach feel a bit queasy.

"Yup, that's why I could tell this was a cow's tongue the moment I laid my eyes on it." He crossed his arms around his chest.

"Poor cow…" Levy once again pouted, this time out of sadness.

" _Poor cow_? You didn't even feel sorry for the human you assumed about earlier!?" His eyes widened and his mouth was open.

"I did but in my head," Levy said. "Besides, I feel more sympathetic to animals than humans. I mean this is just cruel to do to an animal!"

"Or they could've easily bought it at a convenient store…" Gajeel put his hand over his mouth.

"Wait, people actually sell these!?" Levy was astonished at that news.

"Have you been living under a rock!?" Gajeel was astonished at her response. "THEY'VE BEEN IN THE DAMN MARKET FOR A LONG ASS TIME NOW!" He raised his tone. "AND FOR GODSAKES, YOUR DAMN FATHER OWNS AND WORKS AT A RESTAURANT! AND YOUR TELLING ME THAT YOU'VE NOT ONCE TRIED, MADE, OR ATLEAST FOUND SOME ON THE DAMN MARKET!?"

"NO! WE PRIMARILY USE CHICKEN AND FISH!" She now raised her tone to match his.

"…well now I feel stupid…" Gajeel's tone was back to normal.

"Yeah… me too…" Levy's tone was too back to normal.

"Anyways, getting back to the main topic at hand," Gajeel backtracked back to their original conversation. "At least we now know a lot more than we did earlier."

"Yeah, sucks that this had to be a fucking conspiracy!" Levy looked at her coffee table and imagined herself hitting it very hard.

"You don't like that word, do you?" Gajeel asked.

"I thought you've seen those movies and TV shows," Levy answered. "It usually never goes good for the good guys like us in the beginning." She sighed back onto her couch.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised you'd be thinking of that first hand," Gajeel looked at his watch to see what time it was. **11:42 a.m.** "I guess we can call it a day now."

"You have to be somewhere?" She glanced at him when he looked at his watch.

"Yeah, gotta go pick up my little brother." He got up from the chair.

"You have a little brother?" Her eyebrow furrowed, somewhat intrigued.

"You've probably already met him." He said as he put his jacket on, took his briefcase and grabbed and put his fedora back on.

"Met him?" Levy was a bit confused at his comment of her already meeting his so called _brother_.

"Yeah, he's one of the guards at the court," Gajeel said, near her door. "You know? Dark hair, red eyes?"

"Oh, you mean Rogue?" She asked for clarification of whether that was his brother.

"Bingo." He snapped his fingers.

"Hey Gajeel." Levy stopped him just for a bit.

"Yeah?" He almost opened the door, looking back at her.

"How can you just trust me like that?" Levy asked him. "Even after our sudden incursion yesterday and earlier?"

"I don't know," Gajeel scratched his head, looking for an answer. "I… just do."

…

"Looks like he's already leaving boss." The green haired man said, holding his binoculars with his left hand and the cellphone with his right.

"Does it look like they got the memo on where they stand?" She asked.

"I believe so, but-"

"But what?" She interrupted him once he _**butted**_.

"The planned seems to have backfired," he still looked through the binoculars. It seems that Gajeel had left the apartment already and Levy is just locking up. "They seem more confident than ever."

"Well that's not good is it?" Her tone now seemed dissatisfied.

"Nope," he put the binoculars down now and focused on his conversation. "What do you want us to do?"

"Well for right now, nothing." She gave them their task.

"Nothing?" He repeated her last word, or rather her current task.

"Yeah, just keep an eye on them will you?" She said.

"Alright." He said.

Just as he was about to hang up, she said one more thing. "And Freed." She called out to him.

"Yeah?" He put the phone back on his ear.

"Don't you or Bickslow disappoint me." She said before she hanged up.

Freed took the phone away from his ear and broke it, which startled his sleeping partner on the chair. "W-what's happening?" The blue haired man yawned as he stretched his arms out.

"We just got our current task." Freed said as he threw the phone to the side.

"What!?" He then got up from his chair and walked towards his partner. "What'd you mean we got a new task, Freed?"

"It means that this planned backfired, Bickslow." He looked into the direction of the lawyer's apartment.

"Ah shit, did the boss get mad?" Bickslow was slightly concerned. Normally, a threat like they pulled would normally intimidate their target and make them stop everything they do at hand, but seeing how it didn't work made him a bit nervous.

"Her tone seemed to be rather pleasant than that of anger, in my opinion." Freed answered his partner.

"You think that's a good sign or nah?" Bickslow hunched over the railing, looking over the street.

"Neither, none of us expected this to happen," Freed turned around and started to walk back. "Come on now, we have task at hand to do."

Bickslow turned back and started to walk back with Freed. "Did we get the babysitting part of the task?" He asked.

"Yup." He affirmed him.

"Dammit!"

…

Natsu had felt like he's been in prison for almost what seemed to be an eternity, sadly though, it's only been a couple of days.

Like every morning, Gray the prison guard came by to wake him and Erza up, followed by their breakfast which he brought. It was usually the same as last week; oatmeal, orange juice, an apple and a milk cartoon. The food reminded him of when he was kid, where his father prepared the same meal for him and his sister, Levy, before they went to school.

Like usual, he and Erza finished their food and handed their tray.

The day went by as usual until something threw Natsu off. "Hmm," he looked at the Janitor who was coming closer to his and Erza's cell. He didn't look like Romeo at all, in fact, it was a different person altogether. "Hey, what happened to the kid?"

The janitor looked at him. From what Natsu could tell, the Janitor was a male, not that old but neither young maybe his mid-thirties. He had black eyes and his hair was mixed between black and white. "You talking to me?" The janitor asked the pink haired man.

"Yeah, before you, there was a kid that was in his teens named Romeo," Natsu continued. "What happened to him?"

"I still don't know who you're talking about…" The janitor looked at him like he was nuts or something.

"You know, short guy, had black to blueish hair?" Natsu continued. The man thought it through a bit more. "Romeo?" He repeated his name once more.

"The… drug dealer?" The janitor asked.

"No, the car thief." He corrected.

"I still don't know man." The janitor just gave him a profound dumb look.

"The kid that was bragging that he was almost getting out in a few weeks, bro." He added one more detail, hoping that'll seal the deal.

The janitor seemed like he was thinking it over once more. "OH! THAT KID!" Janitor finally realized who Natsu was talking about. "The kid that said he had a girl waiting for him outside, right?"

"Yeah, her name was-"

"Wendy," the janitor finished his sentence. "Yeah, I know which kid you're talking about. He's dead."

Erza somewhat was listening to their conversation, as she laid on her side, facing her wall instead of outside her cell.

Natsu couldn't believe what the man just told him. The janitor proceeded to mop the floor while Natsu tried to take the information given to him in his head. "H-he's dead!?" Natsu came back to his senses.

"Yup," he continued to mop the floor, moving the mop from left to right, up and down. "Poor kid, I almost feel sorry for him."

"The kid only had a few weeks left…," Natsu looked down at his floor as he stood, putting his head on one of the jail bars. Suddenly, a fiery rage build up inside him. "Who killed him?"

"Beats me, all I know is that he was shanked pretty badly." The janitor said, almost done with their hall.

As he got closer to Natsu's cell, from out of nowhere, the janitor was grabbed by his shirt by Natsu. "WHO THE FUCK KILLED HIM!?" He asked once more.

His yell instantly alarmed Erza. **What the… was that Natsu?** She quickly got up from her bed, went by her bars, where she saw Natsu hold the Janitor by the shirt.

"ANSWER ME!" He yelled once more, making the inmate cry out for help.

"SHIT! SOMEONE HELP ME! HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" The janitor cried out.

Just as Erza was about tell him to put the inmate down, one of the Guards had beaten her to it. "OI, FIRE-HEAD, PUT THE INMATE DOWN!" Erza looked at the other side of the hallway, where Gray yelled from.

"Nngh…" Natsu quickly let him go and the Janitor quickly from to his stomach and crawled away far enough for Natsu not to reach him.

"TOTOMARU!" Gray called out to the current Janitor. "GET BACK TO WORK!"

"R-right…" He quickly grabbed the mop and went back to the cart where he began to push it and leave to go mop another area.

"Oi, Natsu," Gray walked towards his cell. "What the hell was that all about?"

Natsu walked around his cell for a bit. He then sat down on his bed and took a heavy sigh. "Somebody killed Romeo."

"Crap," Gray took his hat off and grabbed the chair right behind him, facing it right in front of Natsu's cell and taking the seat. "The bastard told you, didn't he?"

"Yeah…" Natsu rubbed the palm of his hands on his face.

"Yeah, he was a good kid, didn't deserve that." Gray somewhat tried to sympathize.

"Do… do you know who killed him?" Natsu asked the very question he asked the other inmate.

"I do," Gray looked at him. He could tell that Natsu wouldn't stop his curiosity, until he found out. "He's a new fella, goes by the name of Midnight. He and his crew, _Oracion Seis_ , were brought in after they tried to rob a bank."

"How does he look like?" Natsu asked his next question.

"Sorry, that's where I drop my line." Gray then got back up, putting the chair back where it belongs. He continued his duty.

"I'LL FIND OUT YOU KNOW!" Natsu said to him before he disappeared.

Natsu turned to face the wall, punching it to let his sudden buildup of rage out. "Hey," Erza called out to him. "Are you ok?"

"I just punched the wall…" He said lowly enough for her to hear.

"Does your hand hurt?" She asked. She knew how the pain felt, as she too has punched the wall before.

"A little." He admitted, it stung quite a bit.

"It stops hurting after a while." She said.

"How about a pain to the heart?" He sat back down on his bed, looking down on the floor once more to his dismay.

"That," she took her time to answer that question. "You need either a bunch of alcohol or…"

"Or what?" He asked her in hopes of her finishing her sentence.

"Or a bunch of time," she said. She went to her cell's far left, where Natsu's cell was located. "In which we don't really have neither." She stuck her right arm out. "Come here."

"What for?" He asked as he looked out of his cell.

"Just come please," She asked once more, this time, Natsu listened and did so, walking towards the right end of his cell. "Stick your left arm out."

"O-Ok." He did as she told him. He reached out and felt her hand. **Soft**. He instantly thought. He suddenly felt her grip, holding his hand.

"I-It's going to be O-OK." She stuttered.

"T-Thanks…" Natsu somewhat blushed. Thank god, she couldn't see him, nor did he to her. "Hmm… Erza." He let go of her hand.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"Why do you trust me so much?" He asked her.

"I just do."

 **Author's Note:** **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And again, I apologize for updating late. Hope I update soon. Please be patient, I would appreciate it. Anyways, don't forget to leave a review, your support is very helpful!**


	6. Chapter 6: Snow and Guests

**Author's Note: Sorry for updating late, I've had lots of stuff to do. Anyways, hopefully it doesn't take as long as I did to update this chapter. Enjoy**

* * *

Several days passed by, and nothing much has changed since Natsu has been sentenced to death. He continued to be in his thoughts as he laid down on his bed, staring at his gray ceiling as he did most days. Erza on the other hand continued to be non-communicative with everyone besides the pinkette. She did as she always did and that's lay down on her bed, on her side.

Everything was peaceful and quiet until an unfamiliar guard used his baton and hit their holding cell bars, alerting them of his presence. "Hey, Dragneel." He called out to the pinkette.

"Hmm?" He turned to look at him. Like the others, he wore the same black uniform. Only difference though, he was taller than most guards he's ever met with brown skin and black eyes. "What's up?"

"You and Miss Scarlet are going to see some fresh air." He said, picking out the key to the cells.

"Fresh air? You mean we're going outside?" Natsu quickly jumped out of his bed.

"Yup," he said, opening the door to his cell first. "Stand back, face the wall and put your arms out towards me."

Natsu did what he was told. It didn't take long to put the restraints on his wrists. Once done, he walked out of his cell.

The guard did the same thing to Erza. Like always non-communicative but doing what she was told. "Come on now," he said, closing and locking Erza's cell door. "Let's go."

Although both Erza and Natsu were rather familiar with some of the places they've walked around with other guards, they've never been to this area of the prison. The walls were more clean and pristine than those near the prison cells and the air didn't reek of sweat and other distasteful odors. As they continued to walk, the temperature seemed to have dropped, prompting them to shiver every now and then. "Hey g-man." Natsu started to converse.

"What's up?" He answered as they walked.

"What happened to Gray?" He asked for the whereabouts of the guard with the weird habit of taking off his clothes.

"Oh he's stuck in traffic," he said. "All the snow from last night's blizzard must have made the roads and streets much harder to drive on."

"S-Snow?" Erza finally spoke.

"Oh, so she does speak," the guard finally heard the woman's voice. "I almost completely didn't believe Fullbuster that you actually speak."

"…" Erza again began her mute state.

"Well every now and then she speaks." Natsu proclaimed.

"Ah." They made it to the end of one of the prison's corridor. As they entered, the first thing that caught their attention was the mass amounts of coats in the room, ranging from leather coats to fluffy plush coats.

"What did you actually mean by getting _fresh air_?" Natsu asked, puzzled as to why they're in this messy room.

"I'm not going to lie to you two since you seem chill but…" The guard stopped mid-sentence.

"But what?" Natsu asked, hoping he'd finished with a little push.

"Truth is," he picked up two shovels and what seemed like 2 large bags of salt. He set them up on a sitting bench. "Both of you are shoveling the snow in the main courtyard."

"Just the 2 of us?" Natsu had an expressionless face while Erza didn't seemed to be phased with the task just given to her at hand.

"Yup," the guard reached into his own pocket, grabbing his keys. "Okay, turn around so I could take off your shackles." He ordered them. "Once I take them off, grab whatever jacket you seem comfortable with, grab one of the shovels and a bag, and proceed out that door at the end of this room. Any questions?"

"Anybody else outside?" Natsu asked, quickly being free from his restraints first.

"Just a few guards in the towers with a gun and a tranquilizer gun." He answered, taking off Erza's restraints.

"Oh ok." Natsu turned his attention towards the jackets, picking out which one to use.

Erza did the same thing. She was the first to pick out the jacket to her liking; a small jacket with a color that resembled her red scarlet hair. Just as she put the jacket on, Natsu as well found a jacket to his liking; a rather buffed up gray colored jacket.

Just as they were about finished, the guard from earlier came back inside the room, this time with something underneath his right armpit. "You guys don't need an extra pair of paints? It's somewhat windy out there." He asked, taking out the extra pants he brought from his armpit.

"I'm good." Natsu said, placing his shoe on the bench and adjusted its laces.

Without saying much, Erza walked up to the guard and grabbed one of the pair of pants. With a simple nodding gesture, she thanked the guard, walking back towards the bench.

"Last chance Dragneel." The guard asked once more towards the pinkette.

Natsu looked back at the pants the guard held in his hand. Rethinking it once more, without much, he walked towards the guard and grabbed them. "Eh why not? Thanks." He said, going back to the bench he took over.

"Alright," the guard simply nodded. "There's a bathroom right here." He moved some of the jackets, revealing the bathroom's doorway. "If anybody wants to change their pants." He walked out of the room once more.

"Ladies first." Natsu turned to look at Erza.

"I'm probably just going to put these pants over the ones I'm currently wearing." She said. Either way though, she had gone inside.

Natsu did the same thing; putting the pants over the ones he had on and proceeded to wait for the scarlet haired woman. It didn't take long for her to come back out, and soon both walked out of the dressing room along with their shovels.

As Natsu opened the door, a sudden cold breeze quickly came in and hit them right in the face. "Hmm, windy." Erza said, fixing and adjusting her hair how it was before the breeze swooped in and messed it up for her.

"This is a lot of snow…" Natsu said, surveilling the area around him. The courtyard was rather small in size but the pile of snow over it was still a bit too much for the two. He turned to his right, where the fence covered ¼ of the sides, the rest was covered by the prison. As he looked through the fence, he noticed that this courtyard was rather small then the one he and Erza are looking at. "That must be for the prisoners who aren't on Death Row I guess…"

"Be lucky that we're not doing that one…" Erza looked away. What got her attention was that of the tower in which the guards the other guard mention overlooked and supervised them.

The snow reached up to their knees, feeling some of the snow come inside their shoes and wetting both feet and socks along the way. "Geez, at least they should've told us that the snow would reach up this high…" Natsu groaned. He could barely walk in it, let alone shovel it. He kept lifting his legs from left to right, hoping the snow that had gone in his shoe would either melt or get out of it.

"The guard back inside did say if we had any more questions to ask him." Erza said. Unlike Natsu, she didn't even seemed bothered by the snow. She walked normally unlike Natsu who seemed to take his steps in the form of a penguin.

"Yeah, yeah." He stopped pouting about.

"Oi!" One of the guards with a megaphone called out to them. "You should start from over here!" He pointed at the at the side, opposite towards the inmates. "It's higher ground!" He told them.

"THANKS!" Natsu yelled back. He and Erza, taking their shovels with them, walked towards the wall in front of them.

The guard was right; the ground where they stood was higher but only by bit, the snow was now much lower than where it used to be near the knees. "Well," Natsu took a deep breath and gripped his shovel with both of his hands. "This snow ain't moving by itself."

"Unless it falls from the sky." Erza slightly chuckled at her own remark.

"Right, right." Natsu began to shovel, lifting the snow and throwing it on the sides.

From one end to another, in several minutes, they've already cleared what seemed to be 1/10 of the area of the courtyard. A large mountain pile was already made near one of the corners in their courtyard. "All that snow already and it's already huge." Natsu said, reeling in his shovel to throw more piles of snow on it.

"Yeah, we could start another pile in one of the other corners." Erza suggested, reeling in more snow and throwing it right on top of the pile.

"Nah, we could still make do of this," Natsu rubbed his hands and blew some of his hot breath on them. "We could fix it." He grabbed his shovel once more and started to work on the pile. He pushed the snow from the top down onto the rest, making the snow pile into a snow rectangular block. "There you go."

"That's pretty cool," Erza kneeled down and saw the snow from that position. "How'd you learn how to do this?" She asked, poking it like a curious child would do.

"My father, Igneel, showed me," he told her. "Back when I was still a kid, whenever there was a bunch of snow, me, him and my sis would play in the snow." He then grabbed a small amount of snow onto his hand, and melded it to form a ball. "We would always make different things in the snow."

"That's cool." She continued to admire the way the snow was made into, unknowingly what's going to happen next.

"Hey Erza." Natsu called out to her.

"Yea-" Just as she was about to answer, a snow projectile hit her right in the face causing her to fall right onto the snow right behind her. "UGH!" She whelped.

"Oh shit!" Natsu quickly went to her aid. "I didn't mean to hit you in the face… Are you okay?" He apologized as he kneeled towards her.

"Ouch…" Her word clearly answered his question. As she laid on the snow, she slowly wiped away the snow that covered her face, primarily her nose and her eyes. "What did you throw at me?"

"Ugh, you don't know what a snowball is?" He asked her.

"A snowball?" She raised an eyebrow. She slowly got up, with help from Natsu, and quickly shook off the snow from her back. "What's a snowball?"

"Jesus Christ, are you from another planet?" Natsu, with both his eyes and mouth wide open, couldn't believe what Erza just told him. "A snowball is this." He grabbed more snow, and again melded the snow into a form of a ball and showed it to the scarlet haired woman.

"That's a snowball?" She looked at it while she softly massaged her nose.

"Yeah," with his left hand, he grabbed one of Erza's hand, prompting him to give it to her. "Hit me with it."

"W-What?" She looked at the snowball that was at the palm of her hands and then back at the pinkette.

"Hit me with it." He told her once more what to do with the snowball he had just given her.

"A-Are you sure?" She asked him once more. Her hands started to shake, hesitant to do what Natsu had just told her to do.

"Yeah!" He affirmed her once more, this time loud and clearly.

She looked at the snowball one more time. She gulped down her saliva, closed her eyes and without knowing, the snowball soon left her right hand's palm, throwing it right at the pinkette with all her might. "UGH!" She heard him grunt. The impact wasn't as loud as she anticipated, but still with her eye's closed, she heard another loud thump that followed.

She opened her eyes and saw that Natsu had fallen onto the snow, buried underneath. "Oh crap!" She said, going by his side as he did to her when she had fallen.

"I'M OKAY!" He lifted both his arms above the snow on him.

"H-Here." She reached in for his hand, and helped him right back up.

"Woo," Natsu quickly patted around his body, hoping the shaking would remove the snow from his body. "That is one mean throw you have there."

"Umm, thanks." She said. She helped him take off some of the snow he couldn't he reach on his back.

"Thank you," he said towards her. "But yeah, that's basically how you start a snowball fight."

"Well, I never had a snowball fight," she grabbed her shovel once more and continued to work. "My father would always be out of town and working."

"And your mother?" Natsu asked, soon following with his own shovel.

"My mother… was sick," she hesitated in saying _mother_. "She was always in bed, coughing with her eyes red and swollen. She never really had any quality time with me."

"Oh… sorry about that…" Natsu tried to think of a way to move to a different topic but couldn't exactly think of what else to say.

"It's alright," she threw the snow at the corner. "She died a few years ago."

"Oh, my condolences." He said.

"At least I know that she's no longer in pain." She continued to throw the snow in the corner.

"Well I guess that's true," he did the same thing. He looked back at the door they came from. "Say, when do you think they'll let us back in?"

"I don't know," she looked in the same direction as the pinkette, only she still continued to shovel the snow. "We haven't been out here that long."

"I'm just asking…" He stopped looking and went back to work.

"You're cold aren't you?" She put the shovel into the snow, preventing it from falling. She stared at the man.

"Well aren't you?" He told her.

"Let me feel your hands." She walked towards him.

"Wha-" Without much trouble, she took away his shovel, putting it the same way as she did with hers and grabbed both his hands.

"They're much colder than mine." She said, looking at his hands.

Although Natsu couldn't feel face because of the cold wind, he didn't realize that his cheeks were rather glowing in the same shade of color as his hair. "Err, is that necessary, Erza?" He took away his hands from hers.

Just as she was about to answer, a third party joined in. "Hey!" The guard with the megaphone caught their attention from the tower. "Stop flirting down there and work!"

"Wh-What!?" Both of them said out loud in unison.

"We're not flirting!" Natsu yelled back, trying to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Yeah, yeah!" The guard said through the megaphone. "And I don't still live with my mom." He said in a sarcastic way. "Just get back to work!" He told them.

"Don't you still live with your mom though?" The other guard, who was reading a cars magazine, asked.

"They don't have to know." He answered, sitting back down next to the guard.

Back down at the courtyard, as they were remarked by the guard with the megaphone, they continued back to do what they were told and that's shovel the snow. "Pfft, _flirting_ ," Natsu chit-chattered to himself as he threw more snow into the pile. "Like I know a thing or two on how to flirt…"

"You said something?" Erza looked at the pinkette, trying to understand what the man was muttering about underneath his breath.

"Eh, nothing really." He told her.

"Oh, okay." She continued to mind her own business.

It didn't take long for them to finally have at least half the courtyard with snow. "Phew." Natsu said. Even in the cold, his body couldn't help resist to sweat a bit.

Suddenly, the door from which they came from opened. "Oi, Scarlet, Dragneel," a half-naked guard came out. "You're done for the day; you can come back inside."

They took their shovels with them and walked back towards the door, going through the path they've made earlier with their legs. "You should put your shirt back on, sir." Natsu said as he allowed Erza to go in before he did.

"Yeah, yeah," Gray was the last to come in, closing and locking the door behind him. "Just take off your jackets and call me when you're ready to go back to your cells." He said, leaving them be.

Natsu took off his jacket along with his orange buttoned up shirt, revealing his tank-top. "Huh…" He breathed out loudly.

Erza only took off her jacket, putting it back on the coat rack. "Give me your shovel." She walked towards Natsu, along with the shovel she was using.

"Here." He gave it to her.

As she walked towards the door to put the shovels where they belong, the snow near the door had already melted to its liquid form. It didn't long for her to start losing her balance. "Shit!" Falling towards her back, she let go of the shovels, dropping first before her.

Before she realized, the pinkette swiftly went right behind her catching her before she fell. "Oh crap…" Even with her in his arms, he managed to slip.

"Are you ok?" Erza quickly turned around to look at Natsu.

"Yeah," he rubbed his head. He opened his eyes and realized that her face was astonishingly close to his, which made him instantly red up.

"Everything all ri-" Gray came in with his shirt intact, looking at both Natsu and Erza on the floor.

"It's not what it looks like." Natsu said, releasing his hands away from Erza even though she was still on top of him.

"Oh, do explain this situation." He mocked him.

…

Back at Levy's apartment, just she as prepared to get ready to go somewhere. She was fixing her hair in her bathroom until someone unexpectedly knocked at her door. "Who could that be?" She put her pink hairbrush by the sink and immediately left her bathroom.

Dashing from out of her room to the kitchen and then the living room, she made it in no time. She looked through her peephole and saw a long green haired man along with a man with a strange tattoo on his face. "Who the hell…?" She opened the door, taking a look at them at a much closer angle.

"Ms. McGarden?" The green haired fellow seemed to know her name.

"Yes?" She eyed at them. She felt their presence rather weird. "Can I help you?"

"I am Special Agent Freed Justine," he took out his badge, showing him his badge and affiliation with the NSA. "This here is my partner, Special Agent Hank 'Bickslow' Nomad." He revealed his partners name. "May we come in?"

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 **Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry to leave off a cliffhanger once more. Anyways, again, sorry for the late update. I'm very sure I'll update somewhere around Christmas, so Happy Holidays 'til then. Bye.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Agents

**Author's Note: I know life and what not is a good excuse to why I update late but I just want to say I'm sorry. Anyways, like always, thank you for waiting patiently for me to update. If you're also following my other NatZa AU story,** _ **Everything's Fine Right?,**_ **I'm still trying to make the chapter, other than that the bonus chapter I promised for it is almost done.**

 **One more thing before the story starts, I might make another Natza AU story. So stay tuned for that. All I'm going to say is it's going to be much different than this one and my other AU story. And now for story time…**

* * *

Levy didn't hesitate to open the door for the gentlemen. "Please come in." She waved them in.

Both agents Freed and Bickslow entered, scanning and processing her apartment. Like most apartments, her house consisted of a conjoined room between the kitchen and living room; her living room had the usual stuff such as a couch, smaller single seat couch, a rather nice HDTV, a coffee table where most of Levy's cosmetics and such laid on and a small desk where her vase filled with various flowers laid. "Neat apartment." The blue haired agent complimented the scenery.

"Oh, ugh, thanks," she closed and locked the door. "Please, seat."

Both men took and occupied the larger of the couches where Levy took the smaller one. "Going somewhere I presume?" Freed noticed the young bluenette looked rather stunning; her hair was made into a small side ponytail, and wore a vibrant black dress that went down towards her knees and dark pants underneath.

"Yeah, but I have enough time for you guys." She moved a bit of her hair from her face.

"Then we won't waste our tim-"

"You're hot." Bickslow interrupted Freed mid-sentence, while intently staring at the petite girl from his seat.

"E-Excuse me?" She couldn't believe that the other agent just blurted that out, making her slightly blush.

"Oh for God sakes…" Freed face palmed at his partner's rude compliment.

"What? One of us was thinking it." Bickslow didn't regret his statement.

"That doesn't mean you have to blurt it out like that!" Freed turned to look at his partner, lecturing him on his manners.

"It's okay," Levy didn't mind the compliment. In fact, it made her feel rather reassured with how she looked. "You can continue where he cut you off."

"Hmm," Freed gave him one last glare before diverting his attention back at the dashing petite. "As I was saying, we just have a few questions to ask, so we won't waste our time."

 **Questions? About what?** She raised an eyebrow but quickly ceased it and nodded, allowing the agent to proceed. "May I ask what's this all about?"

"Is about the case you're working on," he took out his phone from his front jacket pocket. From where she sat, she could come to the conclusion that the long green haired agent kept his notes on his phone. "The City of Magnolia vs. Natsu Dragneel case." He said, leaving his phone on her coffee desk.

"What about it?" She raised her left eyebrow, curious to know why the Secret Service is showing some interest in the case.

"We're just here to clarify some things," Freed explained the situation. "Is it true that you and him were in foster care?"

"Yes," she calmly answered the first question. "We helped each other through a lot wince we were both 8. He was like the brother I've always wanted." She further explained her response. "Is it a crime to help someone you consider a brother?" Her attention went towards the other agent who seems to be writing on a small notepad.

"Ugh, no. Just clarifying the nature of your relationship with him," Freed justified his intentions. "Ok, now back in late March of 2003, both of you were adopted by a man named Igneel of the Seventh Dragon-kin, were you not?"

"Yes." She continued to answer his question, at the same time, wondering where the agent is leading her to.

"Now, out of the both of you, who had the better relationship with Igneel?" A small grin appeared on Freed's face.

"He did." She didn't hesitate to tell the truth. Although, she did love her father, but when it came down to agreeing with one another, they were at each other's throats.

"I presume you're talking about Natsu, right?" He just wanted to make sure before Bickslow wrote it down on his small notepad.

"Yes." She clarified.

"Was your relationship with your father strained during the fire that burned down everything in your household back in 2004?" His questions now seemed more of an interrogation.

"He knew it wasn't Natsu's or my fault," her tension now showed when she placed her arms across her chest. "I don't know where you're going with this but, if you want me to kick you out of my apartment, I surely can." She glared at both men though her intimidation didn't scare either men. "Tread lightly with your next question."

"R-Right, I'm sorry for the personal question," Freed swallowed some of his own saliva, apologizing for his assumption. "One last thing befo-"

"Are you going out on a date tonight?" Bickslow once again started with his abrasive comments.

"What I do with my time is rather personal," she was still able to tolerate the agent's rude behavior. "Any ruder things to say?"

"You have a nice a-"

"Shut. Up." Freed elbowed Bickslow right in his stomach, stopping from saying his next inappropriate thing. "I'm sorry Ms. McGarden. I guess we can do this another time."

"Maybe next time we meet, your friend has better manners," she got up from her chair, walking past them towards the door. "And I hope you have better questions than the ones you've said today."

"Right," both men got up from the couch. Bickslow held on to his stomach, trying to hold on to his injury he had received from his partner, while Freed, taking lead, went towards Levy to say their goodbyes. "Well it has been a rather nice evening Ms. McGarden."

"That's an understatement," she said while she saw both men walk out of the apartment. "Well goodbye Agent Justine and Agent Nomad."

"Goo-" Levy slammed the door shut, cutting Freed off. "-dbye…" His farewells ceased and diverted his rather unpleasant attention towards his partner. "What the hell was that back there?" He tried not to raise his voice at him.

"I can't help it, she was hot," Bickslow scratched behind his ear while biting his lower lip. "What?" Bickslow was bothered by Freed's ice cold glare.

"We had one job, and somehow you managed to fuck it up for the both of us," Freed's nostrils flared up. "You do realize the boss is going to-"

"I'll take that risk," Bickslow cut him short as he walked down the stairs passively. "Come on, we still have to question a few other people."

"Stop cutting me off, you asshat." Freed lightly smacked the back of Bickslow's head.

"Ow."

Back inside Levy's apartment, she was still near her door, eavesdropping onto their conversation 'til they finally took off. "Finally." She was relieved, exhaling out her stress.

She went and took a seat on her bigger couch, lying down and covering her eyes with her left arm. **The nerve of those guys…** She was in her thoughts. **Bringing up old shit… And the other guy with the strange tattoo calls himself an agent!? So goddamn rude!**

She continued to lose herself in her thoughts. **Is he right though?** Freed's question about her and her dad's relationship still lingered in her head. **Is that when we really strained our relationship?** She sighed, still having her arm reside on her forehead.

 _RING!_ She felt and heard her phone.

Levy took out her phone which laid dormant in her pocket. "Must be a text from Mirajane." She said to herself. She pressed the power button, turning on the screen to see her notifications. "What the…?" A certain symbol didn't show on her phone. "I could've sworn…"

 _RING!_ She realized that it wasn't her phone, considering she held it in her hand as the vibrant alarm was heard, but from where?

She turned to her right and saw that Freed's phone was still on her coffee desk where he put it when he began his set of questions. "Oh shit." She cursed underneath her breath, realizing the agent left his phone at her apartment.

 _RING!_ Another notification was heard.

 **Dammit man, you would think a Secret Service Agent would remember to put his phone back in his pocket…** Honestly, at this point, Levy could hardly believe that both men were part of one of the most discrete agencies in the country.

 _RING!_ Once again, the phone vibrated with another notification.

 **Hmm…** She was rather curious to see what messages the agent could be receiving. An angry girlfriend? Possibly an angry wife? The possibilities were endless to the lawyer. **Well, here goes nothing.**

She picked up the phone. She brought the phone near her face and turned on its screen. _**WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING YOUR TEXTS!?**_ She read the latest message, from a girl named Evergreen it seems. She put her finger on the screen, sliding it from left to right. Luckily, the man's phone didn't need any type of passcode. **Guess I'm lucky… hehehe.**

 **Let's see what we have…** She held the phone with her right hand while hiding her evil but innocent grin with her left hand.

It didn't seem the conversation between the two wasn't long, in a few seconds, Levy had already reached the peak of the conversation.

 _ **Are you still following the two snoopy lawyers?**_ Sent by Evergreen, on November 12, 2015.

 _ **It is our job isn't it?**_ Sent by Freed, on the same day.

 _ **Don't fuck up this task, okay? And don't give me a smartass reply or I'll bash in your head!**_ Sent by Evergreen.

 _ **We won't.**_ The last reply on that day.

 **Huh, those bastards have been spying on me and Gajeel!?** A vein popped up from above her left eyebrow, rustled up a bit at the information she was receiving. **When I see those bastards one more time, I'm gonna choke the living shit out of them…** She scrolled down.

 _ **Next time, we use an actual human tongue to send a message to those pesky lawyers!**_ Sent by Evergreen, on November 15, 2016.

 _ **I guess, but who's tongue were we going to use? The last person we killed was already decomposing back in the abandoned building we left him in.**_ Sent by Freed on the same day.

 _ **At this point, I don't care which poor sod dies, we need to protect this agency from becoming exposed.**_ Sent by Evergreen.

 _ **Is that why that Erza chick and Natsu fellow is taking the fall for our guys?**_ Sent by Freed.

 _ **Yes.**_ The last reply on that day.

Levy almost dropped the phone as she read the messages, her hand shook as each message surprised her. **These assholes sent the cows tongue to my house!?** She put her right hand over her mouth, silencing her gasps. **And they framed Natsu and that chick from the case Gajeel is working on?**

 _THUMP! THUMP!_ A loud knock on Levy's door interrupted her from her thoughts. "Ms. McGarden? Are you still there?" The tone of the voice, no doubt it was Freed. "I seem to have misplaced my phone, and I was wondering if I can check your apartment once more to see if I left it there."

She got off from her couch and quietly reached towards the coat racket. **Crap, if he finds out I read his messages, no doubt they'll kill me!**

"Oh come on Freed, she probably already left to wherever she went to," Bickslow tried persuading his partner to leave it at rest. "Come on let's go."

"Wait," Freed put his hand over Bickslow's mouth. From the look on his partner's face, he could see that the green haired man may have heard something. "I think she opened her window."

"Now why would she open her window…" Bickslow threw the man's hand off his mouth.

"You don't think…?" Freed turned to look at Bickslow, hoping the male bluenette understood where he was going with.

"I don't know what you're implying, mate." He raised an eyebrow.

"The phone!" He yelled at his partner. "She could've gone through the messages!"

"Oh!" Bickslow soon understood what he meant by that. Without much more to think of, Bickslow instantly kicked in the door, breaking its doorknob and its typical chain lock.

"Ms. McGarden?" Freed and Bickslow slowly walked in. The first thing they notice was the apartment's window was open.

"There's no way she could've escaped from the window!" Bickslow said. "We're what? Almost 10 floors up, and last time I checked there was no emergency stairs on this side of the building."

"There's the phone!" Freed quickly went towards the coffee desk. "No… no…. NO!"

"What's wrong?" Bickslow asked as he heard Freed's cries.

"She took the goddamn sim card!" Freed threw the room across the apartment. "Now she has the messages from me and the boss!"

"Ah shit!" Bickslow put his hand over his forehead, wiping away the sweat that started to drip.

 _THUD!_ A loud bang was heard. Freed turned around and saw Bickslow falling to the floor, knocked out. "Oh cra-" Levy threw her weapon at the long green haired man, right at his face. He was now a victim of the same hammer that struck his partner in the head, falling on the floor knocked out.

" _Learn Judo he said,_ " Levy clapped and patted away the dirt and dust that the hammer had. " _I was gonna need it, he said._ " She muttered a few words her father had told her. "Well, a goddamn hammer works just as great as a form of defense!"

She ran out of her apartment, leaving the 2 whatever they were on the ground they stood knocked out on.

She made her way outside of the apartment complex, finally reaching sidewalk. **Gotta keep running!** She continued to run on the icy and snowy sidewalk, dodging every pedestrian that was in her way.

In less than 5 minutes, she was already more than 3 blocks away from her apartment. **Can't… stop… need to… continue to… run…** Exhausted from running, she heavily inhaled and exhaled as she ran. Suddenly, the ice she was running on made her slip, stopping her. **SHIT!** She closed her eyes, hoping the impact of the concrete floor wouldn't hurt much.

"OW!" Instead of feeling the cold floor, she tripped and fell on a mysterious person that was in her way. "Hey, watch where you're going!"

"S-Sorry," she opened her eyes and the mysterious person wasn't so mysterious. "Gajeel?"

"Huh? Oh it's you shrimp." He looked down and saw the petite girl on him.

"What did you call me?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hope you like this chapter. As I was saying before, I'm making a new AU Nerza/Natza story. Still in the process of making it, but hopefully it's as good as my other 2 AUs. Not sure what I'm going to call it yet but please stay tune. Still debating whether to call it** _ **Dark Rose**_ **or** _ **The Heartless.**_

 **Hopefully my next update doesn't take longer than this one, so yeah.**

 **One more thing, by the end of this week, (hopefully) my other Natza story,** _ **Chasing Scarlet,**_ **would be updated as well the bonus chapter for** _ **Everything's Fine Right**_ **.**

 **That's it now, so see you guys later. And sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger again.  
**


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